Florida Legislator Files Bill That Would Keep Killer Cops From Being Named And Shamed

Prior restraint but it’s a law.

Everyone saw this coming. “Marsy’s Laws” began popping up all over the nation, written to prevent the naming of crime victims, especially when the victims were minors. It was perceived as a way to protect victims’ privacy and, hopefully, head off harassment from the not-inconsequential portion of humanity that seems to enjoy making suffering people feel even worse.

But most of the press generated by Marsy’s laws has been generated by cops. Not because these cops helped ensure the laws were followed to protect crime victims but to keep their own names out of the papers after killing or maiming people.

As long as a cop could claim they were a victim of crime during the beating/killing of someone else, they could avail themselves of this law to avoid seeing their names in print. And, since nearly any action can be called “assault” when it involves being in the vicinity of police officer, cops pulled the Marsy’s card wherever it was applicable, preventing journalists, public records requesters, or the victims of crimes perpetrated by these cops from publishing their names.

Late last year, one of these laws was neutralized by Florida’s Supreme Court. Florida law enforcement officers insisted the victims’ rights law covered them, even if they were the ones doing the most crime. The court ruled the law could not grant a categorical right to withhold any crime victim’s name from disclosure, not without violating other parts of the state constitution.

The court specifically cited two rights found in the state constitution: the right of the criminally accused to confront their accuser, and the guaranteed right to access public records. That ruling was the end of the state’s Marsy’s law.

Rather than recognize the law was bad and that cops shouldn’t attempt to avoid accountability and scrutiny by misusing it, the Florida legislature — which hasn’t met a bad law it can’t write — has offered up a pair of bills that would allow the state’s law enforcement officers to, once again, kill or beat residents without worrying about their names being made public.

C.J. Ciarmella has the details at Reason.

State Rep. Chuck Brannan (R–Macclenny) filed House Bill 1605 and House Bill 1607 earlier this month. The former would expand the definition of “crime victims” to include “law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or correctional probation officers who use deadly force in the course and scope of their employment or official duties.” 

The latter would exempt records that could be used to identify and harass crime victims from the state’s public records law unless the victim opts to have it disclosed. “The Legislature finds that the release of any such information or records that could be used to locate or harass a crime victim or the victim’s family could subject such victims or their families to further trauma,” the bill says.

Tellingly, the bill only expands the definition to cover government employees “who use deadly force.” This makes it clear Rep. Brannan would prefer killer cops to have a bit more impunity to go with the massive amount of power they already have.

The wording also makes it clear Rep. Brannan either didn’t read or didn’t understand the state Supreme Court’s decision. The ruling made it clear no law that kept any crime victim’s name secret would be constitutional under the state’s constitution. The state legislature would need to amend the constitution to make this happen, not just write new bills that are just as unconstitutional as the law the court struck down.

Even supporters of Marsy’s laws (which have their own constitutional problems) are irritated cops keep hijacking laws meant to protect people who aren’t public servants being paid in tax dollars.

“When reviewing the conduct of an on-duty law enforcement officer who has used physical force, the right to privacy of their name must quickly yield to the public’s right to know,” Marsy’s Law for Florida told the Tallahassee Democrat in October.

If this bill becomes law (and it’s Florida, so it probably will), it will immediately be ruled unconstitutional. Neither of these proposals make any sense given this recent ruling. The legislators backing these bills are either willfully ignorant or pitiably stupid. Neither option bodes well for the people subjected daily to the daily tyranny of Florida’s elected dipshits.